The Great Tick Invasion: The Ugly Underbelly of Pastoralists' Economy

Despite massive livestock numbers under their belts, Kenyan pastoralists still dominate the lower scales of sectoral economic ranking in Kenya. Figures from the Kenya National Bureau Statistics (KNBS) paint an image of a people saddled with unexploited wealth coupled with unchecked livestock disease invasion.

National poverty indexing is enough to reveal this sad reality. Pastoralists dominated counties host the largest proportion of poor Kenyans. Reasons ranging from illiteracy, tribal conflicts, underdeveloped livestock markets, harsh weather conditions, among others have been bandied around as a justification for this painful inequality.

Conspicuously absent in this list is the never-ending "tick invasions" that have left many a pastoralist communities counting huge losses. Mark you; this is not about ticks alone. The whole animal health service thing is in need of thorough shake-up if pastoralists of this nation are to reap good returns. 

Let's look at some numbers. Estimates from 2009 national census indicate that Turkana County alone has more than 1.5 million cattle, 3.5 million sheep, 6 million goats, 1 million camels and about 0.5 million donkeys. How these animals have benefited their owners has hardly preoccupied our minds.

We rarely ask ourselves why people with such immense wealth could still be classified as dirt poor and in need of food rations - every time!

The other day I read in a major online newspaper that ticks kill one cow every 30 seconds in Africa. With a mortality of about 1.1 million cattle every year, the paper reported, tick-borne diseases cost the industry as much as $168 million on the continent. (Check:  http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-05-07-ticks-africa#.VVBo-dkGr3s.twitter  )

Now, back to Kenyan pastoralists. Statistics indicating the economic costs of these diseases vis-à-vis our pastoralists' incomes accruing from livestock trade are hard to find.

However, a quick count of simple things like cattle dips or sprays and animal drug outlets in pastoralist counties could demonstrate that the story isn't that sweet with our people.

Herders here are forced to manually pull ticks off the hides of their animals. When it comes to supply of drugs, they survive at the mercies of middle-men. Diagnosis is still a pipe dream. And now you wonder why these "rich pastoralists are poor".

So, what is the way forward?

First, we must internalise the fact that we have a lethal enemy that must be conquered and vanquished. This enemy is to blame for the poor quality of animals our people keep. This enemy is also to blame for the low household returns of Kenyan pastoralists. To fight poverty, we must eliminate this enemy.

Secondly, no amount of "animal off-take programs" will cushion herders from large-scale livestock deaths. We must learn to attack the root-cause of these deaths. Dips and/or sprays, extension officers and high quality subsidized animal drugs come in handy.

Thirdly, what is the logic of boasting of large livestock numbers and yet do little to open up markets for the same? Herders will never be lifted up economic ladder by the endless outpouring of hollow praises about their livestock numbers. We must translate these numbers to something tangible. Value addition is inevitable.

Fourthly, until herders learn to do business together, they will always fall into the traps of shrewd middlemen. And this is where county governments must intervene. These herders need saccos to overcome the power of middlemen. They need skills on marketing. What if we roll out barefoot colleges?

Nomadism devoid of safe-landing strategies will take us nowhere. To overcome ticks, we must also overcome low school enrollment rates among pastoralists’ children. 

It's time my people ploughed back their livestock income into education.

Lemukol Ng'asike is an architect. Email:  lemoseh89@gmail.com. Twitter:  @mlemukol.